John Joseph Ennis: Royal Dublin Fusiliers

[Guest]

  I am needing help tracking information of my grandfather John Joseph Ennis, who was born 13th of July 1895 in Dublin. He served with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and was wounded in the Dardanelles where he lost a arm. From what I have gathered from my Aunt, he was a corporal when he returned to England.

  Any information that can be shared would be grateful or research leads where I can possibly look.

[George Rayner]

Welcome to the forum. There are two John Ennis on Forces War Records; one died in service the other one's details are here

 

 

First Name:

John

Surname:

Ennis

Incident Details:

Wounds

Information:

Particulars furnished : Island Bridge Dublin, 22/11/1916. Badge and Certificate issued Island Bridge Dublin, 08/12/1916.

Rank:

Private

Service Number:

8292

Service From Date:

15/09/1913

Service To Date:

12/07/1916

Silver War Badge Number:

90972

War Office Ref. Number:

B/76

Reason for Discharge:

Paragraph 392 King's Regulations (xvi) No longer physically fit for war service.

 

Not certain he is yours yet!!

 

George

[DavidOwen]

Lee

Welcome to the forum. I have edited your thread title to give details about the soldier you are researching as that may attract more attention.

Good luck with your search

David

[PRC]

The relevant Medal Index Card shows he landed at Gallipoli on the 15th May 1915. He qualified for the 1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He also received the Silver War Badge, (Roll number B/76). The card is noted that he was discharged 12/07/1916.

 

That ties up with the information from George above, plus put him at the Dardenelles.

 

A watermarked version of the MiC can be seen on the National Archive site here:-

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D3476712

The MiC's are also available to view on Ancestry even if you only sign up for the free account.

 

The Index Cards are just that - a way of keeping track of the various service medal rolls. The amount of information varies but you may find the relevant Service Medal Roll for his Victory Medal and British War Medal confirms which Battalion he is serving in.

Although from the date it's very likely to be the 1st Battalion and he would have been part of a draft of replacements that allowed the Battalion to be rebuilt after the heavy casualities suffered since landing on the 25th April 1915.

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/royal-dublin-fusiliers/

 

If he lost an arm then he should have received a War Pension. There is most likely a Pension Ledger Card for him - brief details of these are being added to Ancestry but the documents themselves are held by Fold3, which is a separate subscription. Again the cards vary in detail but can include date of birth, marital status, dependants and addresses.

 

He could well have been a Corporal rather than a Private, but he may not have been confirmed ih his rank (i.e. Acting Unpaid Corporal) or he may have come from one of the units that insisted on the legality that all soldiers below Warrant Officer were Private soldiers who held Appointments such as Corporal. The references to him in these records to this Royal Dublin Fusilier as only being a Private doesn't rule out that he was your grandfather.

 

Hope that helps,

Peter

Edited 13 May , 2019 by PRC
Typo

[Pat Atkins]

BW&V Medal rolls give him as 1st Battalion RDF.

 

Pat